U.S. Congressional Cannabis Caucus Co-Chair Says Rescheduling Is Stalled But Could Still Advance Under President Trump
- Rep. Titus, speaking at the Global Cannabis Regulatory Summit, highlighted three main priorities for the Cannabis Caucus: passing legislation for nationwide marijuana banking, ensuring veterans' access to medical cannabis, and expanding cannabis-based research.
- She expressed concerns about the limited availability of cannabis products for research purposes compared to what is available in dispensaries, calling for more diverse options to be made available for research.
- Rep. Titus discussed the stalled progress on rescheduling cannabis and mentioned the possibility of pushing for movement on this issue, noting the previous openness of the president to the cannabis industry.
- Prior to the summit, Rep. Titus mentioned working on various cannabis legislation and emphasized the Caucus's commitment to advancing sensible cannabis policies through collaborative efforts with stakeholders and engagement in events and conferences.
During a speech at the Global Cannabis Regulatory Summit on March 27, Rep. Titus said that the Cannabis Caucus is working on three primary priorities, including passing legislation to allow marijuana banking nationwide, ensuring veterans have access to medical cannabis, and further enabling and expanding cannabis-based research.
In regards to the research piece, Rep. Titus said “right now you can’t get much product to do research on except for some little scraggly plants from some place in Mississippi.. and yet you can go into a dispensary and find all these elaborate flavors and brans and buds.” She asks “why are we not making some of that available for research and allowing universities to not be afraid that they’re going to get their federal money cut off?” Speaking on the ongoing effort to reschedule cannabis, Rep. Titus said “that seems to be stalled right now. Maybe we can get that moving again. The president during the campaign in Florida seemed pretty open to the cannabis industry. Since then I don’t know about some members of his administration, but if we can go back and remind him of that maybe we’ll have a shot to move that forward”.
A day before giving her speech at the Global Cannabis Regulatory Summit, Rep. Titus told us “I am currently working on several pieces of cannabis legislation and look forward to informing you when I have information to share”, noting that the staff of the Caucus “have worked collaboratively this Congress and will continue to work to advance sensible cannabis policy”. According to Rep. Titus, she’s been “meeting with stakeholders, attending various cannabis-related events and conferences, and look forward to engaging with the Caucus this Congress.”